Comments on: Identity theft on Facebook?

By: Jenette Mitchell

Jenette Mitchell — Sat, 26 Jul 2008 19:47:22 +0000

There are many ways that people can steal our identity. One, many people don’t own a shredder. Use it. And second, be carefull about who and where you place your information.

By: Jami

Jami — Mon, 12 May 2008 16:55:38 +0000

“if the pranksters are using the dean of student’s identity to, say, send an email that purports to be official school business, and the student recipients take it seriously and something bad happens, that could be considered fraud and therefore identity theft”

I really think this is the only relevant topic on this matter. If nothing came of the fake emails, or whatever, then I agree with Virusdoc. Learn how to take a “joke”, and dont forget that you work at a high school. I dont know the full story, but it sounds to me like the dean is just a little perturbed at what they said and he wants some sort of payback. But come on, when you work as a school administrator, you should expect a little of this. Its just like being a politician. Not that I’m saying that the kids were not in the wrong…

As for facebook not handing over any information. I say they are completely correct in asking for a court order. They would have probably been sued by some one else had they just handed over that info.
I know that identity theft can be a very serious matter, but honestly, I find myself laughing at it sometimes. Or at least laughing at how paranoid some people get about it. I’m sure I wouldnt be laughing if it happened to me…

By: CdnMathTeacher

CdnMathTeacher — Sun, 11 May 2008 17:43:49 +0000

Something similar happened here in Manitoba and came to light last week. When my husband told me about it I thought “I’m glad that I have a Facebook page so that should students try to do this to me it will be apparent that it is not legit.” I know that some teachers are afraid to have social networking accounts in case something nasty happens. I’m afraid to not have a web presence! I check my facebook account daily and remove any questionable content. In fact, I removed the superwall application because I was getting content that I wasn’t comfortable having students thinking that I thought the content was appropriate.

By: virusdoc

virusdoc — Sat, 10 May 2008 14:06:16 +0000

Blanka: you clearly didn’t grow up in the south, where the Southern Baptists are the butt of nearly all religious jokes. As a former Baptist myself, and one who attended the largest Baptist university in the world, I’ve heard them all and even invented some of my own.

And the reason the diocese should learn to take a joke is because they are in a position of power. Christ (who they claim to follow) embodied and preached the message that if you are in a position of power, and you are wronged, you respond with grace and forgiveness–not litigation.

By: Blanka

Blanka — Sat, 10 May 2008 13:20:31 +0000

Virusdoc : “The Archdiocese should learn to take a joke. ”

Why should they? Nobody would dare joke about any other church than catholic.

By: tODD

tODD — Fri, 09 May 2008 20:55:37 +0000

This happened to my wife, with a student creating a fake MySpace page for her that was generally mild fare, if possibly mean-spirited. I thought it was sort of charming that they’d bother, but she didn’t like it.

I emailed MySpace, expecting to hear nothing back, and was surprised at how quickly they removed the page. And that was the end of it for us.

By: virusdoc

virusdoc — Fri, 09 May 2008 19:22:50 +0000

Yes, I know what the acronym means. But it was too delightful an opportunity to pass up.

By: Robert

Robert — Fri, 09 May 2008 17:59:01 +0000

IANAL = I Am Not A Lawyer. But I don’t deny that I am anal.

By: virusdoc

virusdoc — Fri, 09 May 2008 17:56:37 +0000

Let me rephrase the issue: perhaps the students will argue that their page and emails represent mere satire, farce, parody, and practical jokes. These are protected first ammendment expressions and don’t generally constitute fraud unless the individuals perpetrating the act seek material gain by their actions.

Oh, and did you just admit you were anal? We already knew that….

By: Robert

Robert — Fri, 09 May 2008 16:09:05 +0000

@virusdoc: The wikipedia article on identity theft takes a somewhat broader view of what that term includes. The US law, at least, seems to include any kind of *fraud* as identity theft, whether or not that fraud is financial in nature. So for example, if the pranksters are using the dean of student's identity to, say, send an email that purports to be official school business, and the student recipients take it seriously and something bad happens, that could be considered fraud and therefore identity theft. However, IANAL and so that could be off. But it's not merely financial gain that defines identity theft.